For the Live-Tweet Storytelling assignment, I decided to talk about our (my) garden, because it is a big part of my life. That is true in the past and in the present, but for different reasons. I used suggestions from Gary Vaynerchuk’s article “How to Tell a Story on Social Media”, which is available online.
Following the Elements of a Story, I focused on the following:
Setting
I explained how the garden first appeared in my life and what its importance was in the beginning.
Character
This was harder from a personal perspective. I was not trying to sell anyone on anything. I took the approach of explaining how life before and after retirement from the military involves both compromise and opportunity.
Plot
Part of the formula for success being a military wife and a gardener is being spontaneous and not having a long memory. I love my garden. I remember spending a full two years liberating it from the thistles that had taken over before we moved in. I read books on square foot gardening, planting small groups of plants over time for a continuous crop:
He always plants in rows between sticks.
Conflict
Then he officially retired and moved home. I started to hear a lot of stories about how he “always plants in a row between two sticks” and he “always waters the garden by holding a spray nozzle and standing out there”, instead of using the sprinkler. Change is constant in military life, before and after retirement. Again, spontaneity is necessary. Any long-term military wife understands the power of those two words. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s a Facebook post from a private community of military wives that resonated with a lot of members:
Arc
Beginning, middle and end. I closed my story by sharing a solution for the current challenges in gardening, giving him a quick tool that he can use without asking me. Have a look for yourself:
EXSM 3989 - Digital Storytelling Class Blog 